Smoke and mirrors
by Fai's smile
Summary: Collection of one- shots about our favourite warlock. All genres, challenges wellcomed;
1. The last Dragonlord or is it Lady

**Hello – this is my collection of one- shots. I am always in for a challenge ( through I reserve the right to refuse or take my time with it). Some of these one-shots may work as testers for possible longer stories. **

**Well, I don't have English as my maternal language, so please be lenient with my grammar and let me know, if you do find mistakes, so I can correct them. **

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Merlin, BBC does. **

The Last Dragonlord or is it Lady?

**Because, let's face it, as a female I have my reservations to fem Merlin! Or however else you decide to rationalise the fact this is first think I thought of, when I read the phrase: Merlin rewritten as female character :-D **

The scream of despair tore through devastated land. It's wild magic pushing the dragon's flame away. Emrys's eyes were glowing gold as she stood protectively in front of her unconscious king. Her voice full of righteous wraith as well as outrage, disappointment and disapproving.

"Kilgaraah" once she would yell it with hope for agreement between sentiment beings, but that was before...

It seemed that the new intonation in her voice make the dragon pause, so she continued:

"What the hell do you think you are doing? I have lost way too much to this idiotic destiny, for the rise of peaceful Albion, that you told me about – mind you – to let you destroy it! AND I NEVER THOUGHT I WILL HAVE MY FATHER TO ADD TO THAT LIST, BUT I HAVE THANKS TO YOU! EVEN THE LAST DRAGONLORD AGREED THAT THIS MADNESS OF YOURS MUST END AND WAS WILLING TO RISK UTHER HOSPITALITTY TO DO SO-," her voice broke and she continued in silent sad yet firm and loaded tone "and he died because of it. What good does this leads too? It can not change past, you killed hundreds, thousands even but not the one you wanted and YOU JARAPORADISE THE DREAMS AND HOPE OFF ALL MAGICAL BEEINGS! YOU DISGUST ME! FLY AWAY AND DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK! BECAUSE I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO KILL YOU, BUT I SURE AS HELL CAN BLIND YOU, YOU FLYING PILE OF DUNG! SO GO, just go, before we both do something we might regret."

And amazingly the Great Dragon slightly bowed it's large head and said "Call for my help, should you need it, young witch." Took off and flew away. Emrys or Merilyn as she was known to her friends, kicked some pebbles angrily. "Stupid overgrown flying lizard," she muttered as she turned around to check on her prince and she froze. Arthur was looking at her with dazed expression. "What happened?"

"You dealt it fatal blow before failing unconscious."

"So the yelling?"

"What yelling?" she asked maybe just a bit too quickly.

" Arthur looked suspiciously around. "If I killed it, where is the body?"

She gulped. "Uhm - er – it"

"Merilyn, is there something you want to tell me?"

"No, not particularly."

He glared at her, "really? Because I could have sworn you stood protectively before me, deflecting flames and scolding the Great Dragon like a misbehaving puppy!"

She giggled a bit historically. "You just – chichi – dragon to – chihehhe – puppy. He glared at her. She laughed harder.

**Well may be not first thing, that was to let the Great Dragon go rampant, but well, muses are quite fanciful and this was fun to write. Still I think it would be good story – Albion ended, before it's creation, because Emrys was she and so not a dragon_lord._**


	2. challengefic - Magic is like swordNO

**Magic is like a swordNO IT'S NOT!**

**Author ****of the challenge****: ****BriefShiningMoment**

**Arthur ponders his servant sorcerer's magic. Merlin gets insulted at Arthur's new analogy, which Arthur doesn't appreciate at all. And some readers are sick of the same analogy. CHALLENGE FOR ALL USERS!**

**Here's a challenge people! Everyone come up with their own version of swords and magic being compared. You can use a different metaphor, write a crack version, or whatever pops into your head. Let me know in your review if you write one and I'll have a look cos seriously people. These metaphors are getting out of hand.**

**I still don't own Merlin**

**Spoiler warning: Set at the end of the episode The Eye of the Phoenix (S3E8). A little AU, because let's face it: Arthur knows he was Courage and between Merlin and Gwaine it doesn't take a genius to decipher who is supposed to be Magic and who Strength.**

"I think magic is like sword, it isn't evil in itself but it can be used for good or bad like sword can be used by knights and bandits alike." said Arthur after they slowed down a little. They were riding through forest with the Perilous lands already long behind them and Camelot yet far ahead. "Don't you agree _Mer_lin?"

Merlin snorted, eying him warily. Could the _Prat_ actually be putting it together? And if so what will he do? He apparently didn't think magic was all evil, but still...

Merlin looked like he was working himself into panic attack, just great. Arthur ran his hand through his hair tiredly._ He only asked him his honest opinion on magic not if he is a sorcerer for heavens sake!_ "_Mer_lin, I just want an honest answer, I know you are from Elador, where magic isn't forbidden... I am just curious." He kept looking at Merlin through corner of an eye and could see him relaxing, good, it was working.

"Sword?" asked Merlin with a bit of hesitation. "Are you _insane_?" he asked, thankfully in his normal sarcastic tone, which slipped as he continued: "No matter what you do with it sword is a weapon. No magic isn't like sword. It is more like... bella dona or fire."

"_Insane? Me_? You are the _fool_ here, remember?" laughed Arthur, before his expression changed to a confused frown. "What the hell has a beauty to do with anything?"

"Bella dona is a herb you,_ clotpole_." was Merlin swift reply followed by frustrated sigh. "Let's stick to fire, shall we?"

Arthur just nodded, eager to hear more. After all, how often can a son of magic hating king hear a honest opinion on magic from a sorcerer without threats against his live?

Merlin encouraged by Arthur's willingness to listen went on in that confident wise tone full of seriousness, that he sometimes adapted.

"Magic is like fire. It isn't evil or good, it just is. It can be controlled or wild. Beautiful or terrifying. It can be used to heal, just like fire is used in medicine, it can be used to keep you warm or burn or bring light to darkness, to purify or to cook meal, to create fire, to play tricks and amuse children. Just like lightening can set a tree aflame as well as fire can be set by man, not all magic is that learned like that of sorcerers."

Arthur nodded thoughtfully, the passion in Merlin's voice convincing him, that yes, Merlin was Magic and since Merlin was evidently powerful sorcerer magic could not be evil. It saddened him to realise, what his father did. Just how many innocent did he kill?

"So are you gonna tell me, what happened to that bracelet from Morgana, Magic?" smirked Arthur. Merlin blanched to chalk white, his eyes wide, his expression priceless. "I...I don't k-know what you are talking about." he stuttered.

Arthur laughed. "Really? Cause it was quite horrible, it looked so eerily, that just wearing it sapped live out of you," he mock shuddered. "But if you are so sure, I am just glad I lost it... through Morgana will be furious."

Merlin give him a tight-lipped smile: "That is for sure."


	3. Despair

**Despair**

He made his way through the lower town, gaping at everything in sight with a smile across his face. His awe being so great, that for once he didn't even need to pretend.

He wandered into the main castle courtyard as the horns were blown in the background. Making his way through the thickening crowd, Merlin watched as a man in peasant clothes was led towards the executioners block.

King Uther stood up on one of the castle balconies, overseeing the execution.

"_Let this serve as a lesson to all. This man, Thomas James Collins, is adjudged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic. And pursuant to the laws of Camelot, I, Uther Pendragon, have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death. I pride myself as a fair and just king,"_

His smile was held for a second in place by the irony of that statement, but it was quickly replaced by horror.

"_But for the crime of sorcery, there is but one sentence I can pass." With a nod, the prisoner was forced to kneel. Uther raised his arm, and then brought it down. Just before the axe fell, many different people in the crowd turned their heads away while he just stared in horror."_

**'****_Oh mother, what madness possessed you to send me here?'_**

"_When I came to this land, this kingdom was mired in chaos. But with the people's help, magic was driven from the realm. So I declare a festival, to celebrate 20 years since the Great Dragon was captured, and Camelot freed from the evil of sorcery. Let the celebrations begin!_"

**'****_Feast to celebrate that slaughter? Why did I even listened to her and came here?'_**

As Uther turned to leave, a woman's high wailing quickly parted the crowd to reveal an aging woman with long grey hair.

"_There is only one evil in this land and it is not magic! It is you. With your hatred, and your ignorance. You took my son; and I promise you, before these celebrations are over, you will share my tears._"

"_An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son."_ The old woman's voice cracked.

'_**Will make world blind and help no-one. Do you really wish to die so badly? Oh, mother, if I get caught please stay safe in Ealdor.**__'_

_"__Seize her!_" Uther ordered, pointing at the old woman.

Grabbing her necklace, the old woman quickly hissed a spell and began to disappear in a whirlwind.

**__****'I wonder, if I could learn to do that? It seems quite useful.'**

**"**_Where would I find Gaius, the Court Physician?_" Merlin asked one of the guards. The guard grunted and pointed behind him.

When he reached a wooden door, Merlin knocked softly and entered Gaius' chambers. "_Hello_?" He called softly into the room. Entering the room, he looked through some of the strange objects covering the tables. Plants, flasks, beakers full of strange chemicals, and other unusual objects covered every table space in the room.

"_Hello?"_ Merlin called out again. He looked up to see Gaius standing at the top of a staircase, looking through piles of books stacked at the top.

"_Gaius?_" Merlin tried again. When that didn't work, he loudly cleared his throat.

Gaius turned to see who had entered his chambers when the railing behind him broke, and he began falling towards the ground.

Merlin's eyes flashed gold, and time around them began to slow to a crawl. Looking quickly around the room, Merlin's eyes fell on Gaius' cot. With another flash of gold, the bed whisked to the other side of the room. As time resumed it's normal pace, Gaius fell with a crash onto the cot. And Merlin's relief at saving him changed into fear. He froze, hardly daring to breath.

Gaius scrambled up from the cot, fixing Merlin with a piercing glare. "_What did you just do?_" He asked harshly.

And in that moment an untrained warlock in the heart of Camelot understood, it wasn't madness, what made his mother send him there.

"_Erm..._" Merlin replied, trying to think of what to say.

"_Tell me!_" Gaius ordered.

It was despair. The very feeling that was now cursing through him. Freezing his own blood.

Merlin looked around wildly. "_I—I- I have no idea what happened._" He stuttered.

"_If anyone had seen that..._"

"_Er, no! That-that was- that was nothing to do with me. That-that was.._." Merlin tried to lie.

"_I know what it was!"_ Gaius insisted. "_I just want to know where you learned how to do it_!"

Despair made you do mad things. The line between madness and despair is thin one.

"_I-I've never studied magic or, or been taught._" Merlin said.

Gaius fixed him with a calculating glare. "_Are you lying to me, boy?_" He demanded.

"_What do you want me to say?_" Merlin asked desperately.

"_The truth!"_

_"I was born like this!"_ Merlin informed him in a desperate voice.

"_That's impossible!" _Gaius denied vehemently.

"_Who are you?_" Gaius asked suspiciously.

_"Oh, erm..."_ Pulling off his backpack, Merlin begins to search through it. "I have this letter." he said, pulling it out of his pack and holding it towards Gaius.

"_I- I don't have my glasses."_

_"I'm Merlin."_

Gaius' face brightened in recognition. _"Hunith's son?"_

_"Yes!"_ Merlin agreed with a bright smile.

_"But you're not meant to be here till Wednesday!"_

"_It is Wednesday."_

**But maybe, just maybe the mad desperate things are for the best. And who knows, maybe the impossible would work. After all who would look for an untrained warlock in the castle of a man whose hatred of magic is legendary?**


	4. A seer saw

**AN: Would you like continuation, with this OC?**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Merlin and still don't have english as my maternal language. Through if i ever find out how to change the tissue of reality, these things may change.**

'Ah here they are!' I slip from the shadows into the moonlight and curtsy. "My lords," I great them Prince's eyes widen. He glances at me and at his companion back and forth, clearly confused as hell, I smirk internally. Sight is usually just pain in ass, but it does occasionally have its uses.

"I am not a lord," protests absolutely composed old man.

I smile at him, it is strange, how relaxed I am. Or it would be, if I didn't know that it is by being totally shaken beforehand - a mass of nerves and if I didn't know that I will be reduced to that as soon as they would go on. Or if I have not been wearing hood, effectively hiding my face and wasn't so sure, that there is no way, they would identify me by my voice.

"If you insist, Emrys." I haven't believed, that the prince could look even more confused, but clearly he could. But he also has the fabled Pendragon-temper. I know, so I really needed to warn them and vanish, before I manage to become it's new target, not to mention, that Emrys somehow managed to look resigned and frustrated - scratch that - furious at the same time. I gulp. It is now or never.

"I come here to varn you." They both look at me with distrustful angry eyes and I have to swallow heavily and hope for the best - and remember not to babble. Of course they would be wary of warning, in court it is, after all, often used as synonym for threat.

"I had a vision," I add hastily, hoping they'll believe me. Hoping that they will hurry to save the king and not bother with catching me. 'Calm down' I mentally order myself.

"In that vision, lord Aggravaine placed amulet about king's neck smirking. And the look in his eyes!" I shook my heed. "That amulet is enchanted, I just knew so in the vision. It send shivers down my spine and, when you tried to heal him it worked. I could see it working and then it all went to hell and he died." I take a deep breath, they are both stunned, but I am still alive and there is no blade pointing on me yet, so that has to count as something right.

"Emrys, just please check his neck." He nods at me. His bright blue eyes sincere and determined. Just as I am to slip away the prince finally manage to get over worst of his shock. "Who is Emrys? Who are you?" he demands. "Why are you doing this?" his voice is loud, his anger palpable and I cant help myself and take a step back. I gulped. 'What now?' "I... I dream of a world, where I would not have to fear for my life. I know this plot does not help to realize this dream. And I have faith in you two, that is why." Ugh, hopefully he won't press me more - oh, of course.

"I won't hinder you anymore, I am sure you are in hurry." I curtsy again and slip into the shadows, quickly ducking in nearby alleyway, willing my frantically racing heart to slow down.

I hear Emrys taking advantage of mine poor attempt at diversion. "Young man, stop imitating pillar. You were the one insisting this is urgent. "


	5. One's shadow

This is for Blue turtle of awesomeness. Thanks for not only being an amazing author, but also being absolutely awesome and leaving reviews.

My first torture fic ever so I hope it lives to the expectations.

Happy Samhain to you all!

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Merlin and still don't have english as my maternal language. Through if i ever find out how to change the tissue of reality, these things may change.**

When one of the lords asked Arthur: "where is your shadow?" he instinctively looked down. His gaze settled on his thankfully present shadow and seemed to say: 'See it's here right at my heels as always.' The lord chuckled in response: "No, I meant the human one." Arthur just shrugged.

But it made him wonder. Just where was his manservant? He went out to collect some herbs for Gaius, more likely to clear his head or so Arthur suspected, but he let him, since he himself wanted some alone-time after the whole ghost fiasco. But he didn't bring him dinner and neither breakfast, how peculiar. He went to Gaius's chambers, but nobody was there.

Them he heard Gwaine complaining to Percival, how he couldn't find Merlin yesterday and he so wanted to drag him to tavern. 'Merlin doesn't need to be dragged there.' Arthur scowled internally. But it added oil to the fire. There was no hope for that question to go away now.

He took his horse, just going for ride, he wasn't worried about Merlin. It's not like he never disappeared before. He certainly wasn't looking for him. It was just nice day and he fancied a ride. Really.

He was near one of the clearings, where Merlin often collected herbs, when he heard it. The crack of whip, the stooping of foot and to his horror Morgana's voice "You are no fun. You only yelled, when I used magic to heat the chains and the smell of charred flesh is terrible."

His heart stopped at these words "oh gods, plese no" he breathed.

"Reminds you of pyre, doesn't it?" came hoarse reply. Arthur closed his eyes. Why? Why does Morgana hate Merlin so much? It's not like Merlin is after crown or has any rights to it. He took a deep breath to put himself together. He needed to sneak on her.

"What would you know about it?" hissed Morgana angrily. Artthur tried to block her as he concentrated on using all his hunting skills to creep closer. Cold sweet drenched his back as imagines of what state Merlin is in filled his mind. What type of king is he, if this could be happening to his manservant this close to his citadel?

Finally he could see Morgana's back and Merlin. He gulped. Merlin was chained in the middle of clearing to two opposite trees - his arms were stretched sideways, his legs were apart not touching ground. He had a collar around his neck. Under him laid bloodied whip. His cloths were in tatters. He had a bleeding wound on the side of his head and what could be see of his body was black and blue, apart from his face.

Morgana was holding a dagger. She trialled it lazily across his chest making few cuts. She pouted at his lack of reaction. Arthur felt decidedly sick. One's upon a time he considered this witch ton be his sister. Was proud of it.

Morgana caressed Merlin's neck with her dagger before taking it to his face. Merlins eyes widened seeing her smirk. He gulped. Whatever she thought of, couldn't be good. Arthur disparately searched for a way to stop her. It seemed that his best chance was to simply creep up on her. He just hopped Merlin's reaction won't give him up.

He made his first step. Morgana trailed her dagger just under Merlin's eye. "You know, you never really answered Morgause's question." Her smirk widened at seeing how his eyes were trained on the blade and how the remnants of colour left him. She leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially "I don't care about that, but you will tell me, how you managed to escape then and I may decide, that I won't deal with your meddling by gouging out your eyes.

Merlimn gulped. Morgana added a little bit more pressure. Arthur cursed the distance still dividing him for his crazed half-sister. Merlin licked his lips. "But I did tell her. She just thought it wasn't all." Morgana eyed him distrustfully not even bothering to soften the pressure again. "She didn't believe, that it was just because of my faith in Arthur and in the land he'll build. As to how I got from these wonderful magical chains and away from serkets, well I got lucky and Killgaraah helped me. "

That made Morgana pause. She softened the pressure, while giving him go on motion. Arthur was finally close enough. He hit her over head with blunt side of the sword. Merlin looked comically shocked or would, if he wasn't such a mess. The latest addition to his collection of injuries being shallow cut running down across his cheek from his eye.

Arthur eyed it somehow guiltily. Merlin cracked a small grin: "It is good to see you sire. I take it, you weren't too impressed with the lack of breakfast this morning?"

Arthur smiled, shaking his head as he started unchaining his errant manservant. His loyal shadow, that holds so much faith in him, more than he held for himself. Merlin was the one to pick him up after Morgana's last siege and get him to stop mopping. He was baffling. And so loyal, that it puzzled him as much as his enemies.

And as Arthur moved to fried Merlin's arms he realized, that not only was Merlin always loyally by his side like his own shadow, but that he couldn't even imagine a world, where it would be differently anymore. And he didn't want to.


End file.
